"Teenage Life" was the British entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006, which was sung by Daz Sampson in English.

United Kingdom "Teenage Life"
Eurovision Song Contest 2006 entry
Country
Artist(s)
Language
English
Composer(s)
John Matthews, Daz Sampson
Lyricist(s)
John Matthews, Daz Sampson
Finals performance
Final result
19th
Final points
25
Entry chronology
◄ "Touch My Fire" (2005)
"Flying the Flag (For You)" (2007) ►

On 4 March 2006, Sampson had won the BBC show Making Your Mind Up[1] with the song "Teenage Life", which was written and produced with John Matthews (a.k.a. Ricardo Autobahn) of the Cuban Boys, who were responsible for the Hampster Dance hit "Cognoscenti vs. Intelligentsia" in 1999. Released on 8 May 2006,[2] the song entered the UK Singles Chart on 14 May 2006, reaching the top 10 the following week and peaking at number 8.

At Eurovision

As a result of winning Making Your Mind Up, Sampson represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest on 20 May 2006 in Athens, but only 10 of the 39 eligible countries voted for him and his total score was 25 points, placing him 19th out of the 24 acts (winning act Lordi from Finland, amassed 292 points).

The backing vocalists on "Teenage Life" were five young women, Emily Reed, Holly, Leeanne, Ashlee and Gabriella singing as well as dancing, depicted as school girls in a school-themed song and lyrics.[3] Although four of the five girls were just amateurs applying for the song, the fifth member, Emily Reed had taken part in A Song for Europe, the selection process for representing UK in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003. She had been one of four finalists, singing "Help Me", finishing second to Jemini with the song "Cry Baby". Reed landed the fifth position as a replacement vocalist when it was decided one of the original qualifying amateur girls, Jessica, could not take part for various reasons, including her age.[citation needed]

In the BBC's 2013 documentary How to Win Eurovision, Sampson admitted: "Rap may not be the best of ideas and maybe Europe was not ready for Daz Sampson."[4]

Track listing

  1. "Teenage Life" (radio edit) (3:02)
  2. "Teenage Life" (Uniting Nations remix) (6:48)
  3. "Teenage Life" (JJ Mason remix) (5:40)
  4. "Teenage Life" (Paul Keenan remix) (6:37)
  5. "Teenage Life" (Rap-A-Long mix) (3:02)

Charts

References

  1. ^ "Dance track wins Eurovision vote". BBC News. 4 March 2006. Retrieved 18 May 2006.
  2. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 6 May 2006. p. 27.
  3. ^ EurovisionUniverse.com: Daz Sampson
  4. ^ IBT.co.uk: Eurovision 2015: Worst and weirdest entries at the wacky song contest by Amy West, 23 May 2015
  5. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  6. ^ "2006 UK Singles Chart" (PDF). ChartsPlus. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
Preceded by United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest
2006
Succeeded by